The Catch Up: 6 September

This is the Catchup on 3 Things by The Indian Express and I'm Ichha Sharma.Today is the 6th of September and here are this week’s headlines.The West Bengal Assembly unanimously passed the newly drafted anti-rape Bill. After it was tabled Tuesday morning, CM Mamata Banerjee spoke in favour of the Bill and hailed it as “a model and historic”. She also said that a special unit of the state police — ‘Aparajita Task Force’– will be set up once the Bill becomes a law. The ‘Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill 2024’ proposes capital punishment to rape convicts if their actions result in victims’ death or send them into a vegetative state. However, BJP leader and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari proposed amendments to the Bill which were not accepted by the House.In an unprecedented move, the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday passed an amended Bill to stop pensions of members disqualified under the anti-defection law. Tightening the noose on defectors, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu introduced the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Allowances and Pension of Members) Amendment Bill, 2024, that aims to deter and discourage MLAs from defecting parties by discontinuing their pension.Kicking off the Congress’s campaign ahead of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Ramban on Wednesday promised to restore statehood for the people of J&K. Calling the Lieutenant-Governor a ‘raja’ (king), Rahul accused the central government of giving the benefits meant for the people of J&K to outsiders. Rahul said, quote, “Aaj Jammu-Kashmir mein raja baitha hua hai. Uska naam L-G hai par hai voh raja which loosely translates to (Today, a king sits in Jammu and Kashmir. His name is L-G, but he is a king,”. He added, “Your wealth is being snatched and given to people from outside. All benefits are being given to outsiders.”As Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with his counterpart Lawrence Wong, India and Singapore elevated their bilateral ties to a “comprehensive strategic partnership” on Thursday and signed four Memorandums of Understanding, including one on cooperation in the semiconductor industry. The MoUs are Cooperation in the Field of Digital Technologies, India-Singapore Semiconductor Ecosystem Partnership; Cooperation in the Field of Health and Medicine, and Educational Cooperation and Skills Development.Data accessed by The Indian Express shows, that the number of undocumented Indians crossing over from Canada to the US on foot has reached an all-time high. This spike has placed Canada’s visa screening process under the lens — more so, due to parallel concerns over Canada-bound Indian passengers seeking asylum in the UK while in transit. According to the latest US Customs and Border Protection data, an all-time high of 5,152 undocumented Indians entered the US from Canada on foot this June alone.This was the Catchup on 3 Things by The Indian Express